The Vampire's Requiem II [malexmale]

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven (Starling)

Horror choked me as I held Daimonas in my arms, looking down at him as he trembled violently, drool and foam oozing past his lips and down the sides of his face. His eyes were flickering around wildly, unable to hold still before they suddenly stopped, staring straight ahead before rolling up into his head and he went limp in my arms. I couldn't even form words to express the agony that swept through me as I watched his head flop back.

I gripped him to me tightly, pressing his face into my neck, cradling him close to me as I fought the sob that threatened to come up my throat. Being this close, I could still hear his heart throbbing faintly and I felt my breath catch as I pulled back to look down at him. I used my shirt to wipe at his mouth, cleaning him up before I looked up to glare at Hunter, who stared at me blankly.

"You son of a bitch, I'm going to rip your throat open!" I snarled, baring my fangs. Hunter raised his gun as a response, pointing it at my head and making me stiffen. If it could kill Daimonas, it could kill me. My eyes widened as he placed his finger over the trigger, but he didn't have a chance to pull it because Xed caught him around the waist and slammed him into the floor. I jumped at the sound, then looked up as the human called Urial approached me, looking prepared to take Daimonas away.

I snarled at him and he hesitated, reaching for his gun. I carefully placed Daimonas on the floor, away from the fight, pausing to touch his forehead, brushing the hair from his face when I felt the cold metal barrel of Urial's pistol against the back of my head. I narrowed my eyes, blinking as I felt them flicker, pupils becoming elliptical. I opened my palms, letting my nails stretch and grow into claws. I bared my teeth, letting them sharpen. And I bit back the pain of my tail bone extending, becoming a long, silver and black scaled tail. It shot out and wrapped around Urial's wrist, making him gasp in surprise.

I snapped his wrist, causing the gun to go flying. Urial fell to his knees, breathing hard. I whirled around to face him and parted my lips, feeling an angry roar tremble through my vocal cords and shake the room. It was a demonic sound that made my ears ring and my blood curdle, goosebumps creeping onto my skin. Urial gasped at the force of it, falling back onto his butt in an attempt to scramble away. I snarled at him, releasing another vicious roar that made Urial flinch. I lunged for him, extending my claws and going for his throat.

And suddenly the other two humans were there, getting in front of him. Both of whom were wielding swords that glinted dangerously in the lights. I bared my teeth, daring them to come at me. The tallest one lunged first, swiping his sword at me, but I easily ducked back, doing a flip and kicking him in the face before grabbing him with my tail and throwing him to the floor. I backflipped onto my feet and caught my balance just as the second man, the one who'd driven us here, went to slash at my throat, but I dodged to the side and slammed my fist into his ribcage, causing his ribs to shatter as he fell to the floor, unconscious. I breathed hard, whirling around to watch as Xed pinned Hunter to the floor, wrestling the gun away.

"Get off me," Hunter snarled, "I wasn't going to kill you, but I will if you get in my way!" Xed only flashed his viciously sharp teeth in response, snapping them at his face. Hunter sneered at him and managed to get his free hand between them, withdrawing a knife. I made a sound to warn Xed, but the knife already plunged into Xed's chest. Xed blinked, stunned for a second before his eyes narrowed and he looked down at Hunter in silence while Hunter glared back, both of them unmoving, silent as they stared at each other.

"You've always hated me," Hunter muttered at last, making Xed's eyes glint dangerously, "I could feel you glaring at me from the moment we left, which is hilarious, because I saved your worthless lives. You remember that day, don't you? A dirty alley in New York City. If it hadn't been for me, you and Newell would be dead." Xed gritted his teeth, but couldn't make a sound. I clenched my fists, taking a step toward them to take the gun, but Hunter managed to twist it out of Xed's grip and point it at me, making me go still. Xed froze, looking at me quickly, then at Hunter with a murderous glare. Hunter looked back at him now.